Post It Notes
by oh.botheration
Summary: Ever since Akari first laid her eyes on a certain blue eyed blond, she had been unable to forget how perfect he seemed to be. Encouraged by Elli to confess her love, she does it so only to have disasterious results...? MY FIRST STORY EVER POSTED! Yay.
1. Confession? A grossed out Gill?

**A/N: I haven't written any literary pieces since a few years back. Wow. What gave me the courage to write again? Even I'm amazed. So pardon my language. **

**Well, I've mostly been inspired by works I've read in the past few weeks. I would love to list them all out here, however, I do not remember the titles, nor do I have the time to slowly type everything down.**

**Another thing to note is that the Harvest Moon games I play are all the Japanese versions, so the things may be a little different. Bear with me. **

**Disclaimer: I love Gill. But I don't own him. Neither do I own Harvest Moon. **

**Chapter 1:**

Since day one on Waffle Island, Akari was unable to keep a certain blond haired boy out of her mind. Sometimes, she would be watering her tomatoes when she would think of his beautiful blue eyes… Sometimes she would be feeding her chickens when her mind would wander to the formal yet totally adorable manner of speech he had. Sometimes she would be chopping wood at Praline Forest when she would be imagining how Gill would look like when he was cutting wood; beads of sweat rolling down his face which would look so cute with his always serious look… Hmmm, wonder how he would look shirtless? Probably a lot sexier than Luke is. Yum.

Eh. Oops. Off track.

Anyway, this time, Akari was walking along Cream Beach to pick up whatever she could find to sell when she thought back to the first time she met him.

_*Flashback*_

_It was a beautiful morning. Her first day in Waffle Island. After meeting the Mayor of Waffle Town, Hamilton, Akari decided to explore around town to familiarize herself with the place. She climbed up the stairs beside the Sundae Inn and found herself at the Town Square. There were flowers blooming prettily, wonderful greenery and a large, grand looking building. But what struck Akari the most were not those, but a young, blond man standing in the midst of the scenery. Akari felt she had never seen anyone more beautiful. _

_Heart beating quickly, she slowly made her way to the guy in front of her. _

"_Hm. I've never seen you before. Who are you?" The young blond said, before he folded his arms and stared at Akari. _

_Akari felt faint. Was it her imagination, or was the guy sparkling? Oh, how gorgeous was he! She refocused her attention to see the guy flicking his blond locks behind his ear. Oh! How glamorous it was!_

_As Akari told him her name, the guy nodded his head and flicked his hair again._

"_Akari, eh? Father has told me about you. I'll Gill. I am the Mayor's one and only son." Gill looked proud as he introduced himself to Akari. "Did you come here after seeing the brochure Father designed?"_

_Akari nodded happily. _

"_Yes! This place is beautiful! Nice to meet you!" Akari did a little bow and gave Gill a sunny smile._

_Gill looked a little surprised, yet pleased. He raised his hand to acknowledge her greeting before shrugging his shoulders. _

"_Really? I never thought it would deceive anyone. This island's nothing like that phoney brochure. It's like an empty town…" Gill trailed off, before folding his arms and continuing. "But to me, the island's got potential. I'm hoping to turn it into the one seen in that brochure someday."_

_Akari could see the determination in Gill's eyes and with the way he spoke of the island, she knew it meant a lot to him. Somehow she felt moved by his dedication and love for the island and it made her wish she could help._

"_I hope you'll help me develop this island into a place that really is that wonderful." Gill said before nodding, signifying the end of the conversation._

_With those last words from Gill, Akari knew she had to do it. _

_*End of Flashback*_

Akari was still in the midst of fantasizing of the ways Gill would thank her for making the island a better place when she suddenly knocked into something, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Akari quickly snapped out of her daydreams and immediately apologised profusely to a rather disorientated looking Elli.

Elli smiled and accepted Akari's outstretched hand. She stood up straight and brushed the dirt of her dress, while Akari fidgeted with hem of her own shirt. Elli laughed softly at the distressed looking girl.

"Akari, it's all right. I'm fine," Elli said, watching Akari as she gave a sheepish grin. "So, who's on your mind that's making you smile and sigh like a school girl?"

Akari immediately flushed scarlet and Elli knew she had hit bull's eye. In fact, she had a rough idea who the young girl was thinking of. Ah, young love!

"N..no! I wasn't thinking of Gi… I mean anyone! Elli!" Akari waved her arms about wildly to enforce her point that she was not thinking of Gill… I mean anybody.

Elli smiled thoughtfully as she observed the blushing, chocolate brown haired girl in front of her.

"So… You like Gill?"

"Huh? N-no..no no! I don't! I just admire him! What makes you think that?" Akari stuttered. Was it so obvious? All she did was just visit Gill everyday without fail with a tomato juice at hand. And maybe the only crops she grew were tomatoes... But hey, no one would think I like him, right? Akari could feel her palms getting sweaty. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. What if Elli tells Gill? Oh, the horror! How would she face Gill?

Elli must have been psychic because she suddenly said, "It's okay, I promised I won't tell Gill."

Akari let out a sigh of relief.

"Really? Thanks Elli. It would be bad if Gill knew about it." Akari smiled. "Well, uh, time for me to go! Plants don't water themselves, you know!"

Akari gave a quick, polite bow and she turned away from Elli, missing Elli's sudden mischievous grin at the last minute.

"Ahah! So you DO like Gill!"

Akari froze in mid step. Uh oh. Akari felt like slapping herself up down, right left and centre. DOH! How could she have been such an idiot? Elli could be so sneaky when she wanted to. Akari took a mental note never to underestimate Elli ever again.

Akari swiftly turned to Elli and made her biggest, saddest but cutest puppy dog eyes she could muster.

"Yes, I do like Gill. But you promised you won't tell, right?" Akari stared at Ellie with large, watery eyes that threatened to spill tears if Elli didn't comply with her promise.

Elli couldn't help but to sigh at the adorable brunette in front of her. She nodded. Hey, Elli might be a busybody at times, but she wasn't one to cross the line. She knew when to stop. Besides, if anyone tells Gill about Akari's feelings, it has to be Akari herself. If not, where's the fun? If only Akari had the chance to interact more with Gill…

Hmmm.

Inspiration struck Elli like a lightning! Silly her, why didn't she think of it earlier? Time for her to play matchmaker!! Akari sure look like she needed help, and Gill… Well, he just needs some good, old loving. He can be so caught up in work at times. Forget what she said about stopping. This one was an exception.

"Akari… Why don't you come over to the Town Hall tomorrow? We could use an extra pair of hands!"

Akari pondered for a moment. She knew Elli might be planning something, especially since Elli started to smile in that less-than-innocent looking way, but Elli did promise not to say anything about this to Gill, after all. And Akari would be able to work closely with Gill. It was high time she took action, instead of just daydreaming around.

With those thoughts in her mind, all doubts vanished. Akari knew what her answer had to be.

"... Sure!"

Tomorrow would surely be a happy day.

***** **

What a waste.

It was almost closing time at the Town Hall and Akari couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed that she didn't get much opportunity to talk to Gill. He was either too busy or at a different room from her. She gave a deep, loud sigh.

Akari's disappointed looks did not go unnoticed by Elli. Elli felt a little bad for the girl, and as matchmaker, she felt she hadn't done good enough of a job. Darn that Gill was just too hardworking for his own good! He could have taken a break, but no! Now he's working his butt off on work that was for two weeks later. Seriously, that boy was in dire need of a life outside work.

But Elli knew that chance would arrive soon. Gill always came down stairs at 4.45pm to get his daily dose of tomato juice. Elli looked back at the clock behind her. 4.33pm. Just twelve more minutes. Elli wanted to just shout for Gill to come down at this instant, but she knew that patience was a virtue and that good things came to those who wait…

4.45pm, right on cue, Gill came trotting down the stairs with some documents in his hands. Elli waved Gill over.

"Hello Gill, how's work so far?" Gill grabbed a cup of tomato juice and walked over to where Elli and Akari was seated and sat on a nearby chair.

"It's like the usual. Why do you ask?" Gill was wondering why Elli was acting weird. Why is she smiling like she was hatching some evil scheme? She's giving off some sort of nasty vibes. Like that time when she tricked Gill into drinking spicy pepper juice instead of tomato juice just because he was too absorbed in work and refused to try the milk tea she made the day before. Just to be safe, Gill sniffed at the cup in his hands before taking a sip. Okay. It's tomato.

"Oh nothing," Elli said, before she sneaked a peak at Akari, who had perked up considerably as soon as she saw Gill. "Akari has something she wants to say, right Akari?"

Akari looked a little stunned for a moment. EH? What? Isn't this too sudden? Yes, she wanted to talk to Gill, but what would she say? She knew Gill loved tomatoes. But how much could she talk about them? Oh yes, hahaha, it's red and juicy! And it's red. Did I mention it's juicy? Akari mentally shook her head. Or, should she talk about how fine the weather was? But that would be stupid, especially since it was raining cats and dogs outside. I mean the expression. Not literally. Anyway, she couldn't talk to Gill so easily just like Elli!

Gill placed his documents on the table, took a sip of his tomato juice and turned to look at Akari.

"Go ahead. But make it brief. I've still got work to do."

Akari thought she was going to melt into a puddle when Gill gazed straight into her eyes. She finally had the fullest attention of the guy she was besotted with. He was waiting for her to speak. She shouldn't wreck her chance now. She couldn't. Her mind was swirling with so much she wanted to say; so much she wanted to talk to him about with. More and more thoughts filled her mind and she felt like her brain was going to explode from all the different things zooming through her mind. Akari didn't want to make Gill wait, so she forcefully tried to organise her thoughts on the spot. She had to say something, anything. Make it brief, make it brief… Got it.

In her state of confusion, she blurted out the first thing that came to her clearly.

"**I… I LIKE YOU!!"**

The air in the Town Hall suddenly became oh-so-still.

"……"

Awkward.

Silence.

**A/N: Phew. Done with Chapter 1. Yay. I doubt the next few chapters would be as long as this. Still, it means something to know there're people who would read this. Thank you very much.**


	2. Determination? Will win his heart?

**A/N: Hey, I'm actually on chapter 2! I wonder if I can keep this up. I'm starting to get a little bored already. Curse my short attention span and lack of determination! Would someone motivate me? This chapter isn't too interesting; no suspense or anything. I run out of brain juice so quickly. Ah.**

**Okay. I was done with this chapter for a while but fanfiction refused to upload this into the document manager. CURSES!! Technology always fails me! Sometimes I feel I belong to the stone age or something. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Harvest Moon, but I do own a wonderful copy of the game. Oh. And I own this horrid story as well. Enjoy. **

**Chapter 2:**

"WAAHHHHH…!!! Eh heh heh heh…"

Akari has never felt so stupid in her entire life.

Her new best friend, Elli, watched the depressed girl who was slumped almost lifelessly against the table. She was crying dramatic tears of waterfall one moment, before switching to smiling and laughing like a mad man and then back again. This had been going on for the past one hour and thirty minutes and honestly, as much as Elli pitied the poor girl, enough was enough.

"Come on, Akari. It wasn't THAT bad…" Elli rubbed Akari's back in a comforting manner. Akari moaned.

"Don't bother hiding the facts! He was totally grossed out! He must think I'm some disgusting freak now," Akari laughed bitterly and continued with her moping as she remembered that "this-girl-is-mad-i-have-nothing-to-comment-about-this" look Gill had on his face after her failed "confession". Urgh. Any small, teeny weeny chance she had with Gill before was now at nil. (Hey it rhymes!) Good bye, first love! Akari could see an imaginary heart slowly floating in the air as it vanished into thin air.

Elli rolled her eyes as she watched her friend who was waving goodbye to a corner of her house before she broke down into violent sobs and whispered manically to herself. Elli swore Akari could be so overly dramatic and had a really wild imagination at times. If Akari didn't become a farmer, she could have been a star in some soap opera. Or a lawyer.

"Akari, I'm sure he doesn't think of you in the way. Gill's like that to everyone. He can come across as a little rude at times when he is faced with something unexpected. That's just how he is. Don't tell me you're just going to give him up like that?" Elli exclaimed in exasperation.

The last sentence struck Akari hard. She held a thoughtful look for a moment. Even after that eventful day at the Town Hall, no matter how much she tried to force herself to stop liking Gill, it was impossible. It was almost as if Gill had barged into her head, and stamped his presence all over her mind. She could imagine him with a proud look on his face as he planted a flag on her brain and announcing, "This brain is now under the ownership of Gill Hamilton!" to anyone who would be around to listen.

Akari quickly shook her head to break her daydreams. Now's not the time for that, she mentally smacked herself. She took a deep breath before carefully forming her words.

"I… I want to know more about him. What kind of person he is… What he likes… I want to know him," she slowly said, her face slowly changing from one of despair to one which was shining with determination and seriousness. For a brief moment, Elli thought Akari really looked like Gill.

"There you have it. So cheer up!" Elli smiled and Akari returned the gesture.

Elli was right, Akari thought. Sitting around moaning over her troubles would not get her anywhere. It's not like her troubles cared whenever she was crying her eyes out or not. She would have to suck it all up, and work doubly hard to make up for her past blunder. In fact, she would start, right here right now. Akari grabbed Elli's hands and stared straight into her eyes.

"Elli. Teach me all there is to know about Gill."

***

Akari was a little thankful that Gill had not mentioned anything about the other day when she popped by again at the Town Hall. In fact, it was almost as if nothing happened. As always, Gill had his face buried in some papers. Akari shrugged, and made her way up to the mini library on the second floor. Today, she was not here to play around; she was here for serious research!

The past few weeks Akari had been hearing from the Mayor yakking about some quilts and rainbow whatnots, but till now, she never really made any conscious effort to find out more. But now, she has decided! If she wanted Gill to notice her (in the right way), she had to help this island to prosper. AT ALL COST!

So first, some background information would be good. Akari reached out to grab a random book from the shelf.

"Hmmmm…" Akari flipped the book over to take a look at its cover. "Oh? 'Waffle Island – History and More'. Looks like one of those very boring books crammed with much needed and much more unneeded facts. Perfect."

***

Gill entered the library and almost had a heart attack. Clutching at where his heart would be, he squeezed his lids tightly and chided himself mentally for scaring himself. For the past week he had been greeted with the same sight whenever he ascended the stairs to the library, but each time he saw it, he felt it was getting more and more ridiculous and creepy. He wondered when he would ever get use to it. Gill didn't fancy having himself lose a year of his life each time he had to drop by the library.

He opened his eyes and slowly digested the sight before him.

Seated at the table across him was not the farmer girl, but instead a nerd who looked like she had been studying for some major entrance exam to a prestigious university. Akari had the dorkiest pair of spectacles on and her fringe was tied to the top of her ruffled up hair, reminding Gill of a little palm tree, dancing amongst the tall unkempt wild grass. Her face was flat on the table and she was snoozing away softly. She looked really exhausted, Gill noted to himself. From the litter all over the table, he could tell that not too long ago she had been flipping the thick book on the table. Post-it notes plastered all over and a pen still in her hand, left evidence of the feverously scribbling on random post it notes were done earlier. Her lips moved and she mumbled something to herself. Gill faintly heard something like "harvest sprites" and "ingredients" and he immediately knew what she had been on about the past whole week.

'What is this,' Gill thought as he made his way towards her table. He shook his head slightly at the mess. She had better be cleaning all these up later. He picked a random post-it note off the table and glanced at it. His eyes widened as he spotted his name scrawled somewhere in the middle of the note.

It wrote:

_I finally realise how important this island is to its people; especially Gill. I have to save the Harvest Goddess. _

_I'm glad I've learnt a little more about this island, as well as of him._

Gill put down the note and looked over to Akari. He shook his head. She should take care of herself first, before caring about others. Just look at the state she is in now. Bummed out just from a few hours of research. How would she be able to cope with a whole island?

"Hmph. Stupid girl."

But even as he said that, he had a small smile on his face.

***

Akari gave a little yawn as she stretched herself. Ah, she had a good nap. How long had she been knocked out anyway? She looked outside the window. It was already dark.

'Time to get moving', Akari thought. She looked at the table in front of her. Everything was nicely packed. 'It must have been Elli, how sweet of her.'

Akari smiled and she placed her notes into her rucksack. The stairs creaked and Akari twisted her head towards the sound. She saw a head of platinum blond hair and instantly knew who it was. He watched her with his arms folded.

"Finally you're up. Took you long enough. Be quick. I need to lock the place up." Gill drawled and looked on as Akari quickened her pace, stuffing the rest of her things into her rucksack hurriedly. "How unfortunate. I just organised your items and now it's back to looking like a garbage dump."

'Eh? Gill was the one who helped me to tidy up my things…?' Akari felt herself blushing as she thought of the mess she had created earlier. Ah, to think Gill saw it. And he even helped to clear it up. Should have listened to Mummy's nagging long ago about being tidier for a girl. You know what they say; _mothers know best_.

"Sorry…" Akari looked down, mumbling. "I should hav-"

"Look up when you speak. Don't mumble. Anyway, it's late. You should go now."

"Ah, okay. Thanks for earlier… Good night."

"Good night." Gill waved her off.

Akari made her way out of the Town Hall and walked towards her farm. She wasn't sure how she should be feeling. Just now, it felt a little like she was being chased out by Gill. This might mean… Oh no, maybe Gill was still unhappy about that incident…?

Akari chided herself. NO! Gill isn't like that, Akari thought. She shouldn't be so negative. It was normal for Gill to want her to leave; after all it was already way past closing time. She should be celebrating over the fact that Gill was talking to her. Yes. Talking to her. HE INITIATED THE CONVERSATION. This was something Gill never did with her before. Akari felt a renewed sense of determination in her.

Akari stepped into her house and switched on her lights. She placed her bag on the table and took out the post-it notes she had written at the Town Hall earlier. She nodded in satisfaction. Looks like she has all the information she needed. She was organising the little post it notes when she saw one with an unfamiliar handwriting.

_Good luck. I will be waiting for your success._

_Gill_

…

… Gill? Gill? GILL?! Akari felt like she was dreaming. What was this suppose to mean? It wasn't Elli playing a trick on her, right? Impossible, Akari recognised Elli's handwriting to know it didn't look like the one of the note. So… It really is Gill? Gill has noticed her hard work? He was cheering her on?

Akari could feel her face splitting into a large grin. She squealed, kissed the note and pasted it on her bedpost. She traced the words with her fingers slowly.

"Thank you… Gill." Akari smiled.

Somewhere, in a house at Waffle Town, the young blond was smiling to himself as well.

**A/N: Okay, another chapter down! It's shorter than the previous chapter though. It's not too interesting too. However, thanks to all who reads this! You help to get me off my lazy ass to write. I apologise for the short chapters though.**

**BUT FOR NOW!**

**I can take a break and play TOT again. WEEEEE.**

**Take care and I'll see you again in the next chapter! **


	3. Hardwork? Has paid off!

**A/N: Welcome to Chapter 3! Wow, I've never gotten so far in a story before. Which is kind of sad, considering this is only chapter 3. It's nice to have supportive people. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you guys almost as much as you love yourselves. **

**Another person I would like to thank is my little brother. Without his stupid little comments on everything I do in TOT, I would have never looked at things with a different angle, and be able to write my stories.**

**Which reminds me, I have another idea for a story churning in my head now… BEWARE!! Gill is my number 1 inspiration. **

**Disclaimer: I is not da own Harvest Moon. So you deh not sue me, all wright? **

**Chapter 3:**

Life. Was. Perfect.

This was the sort of life Akari signed up for when she left her hectic life at the city. Ahhh, the fresh scent of vegetables and fruits that greeted her whenever she stepped out of her house each morning. The delighted "moo"s and "baa"s she received from her animals whenever she brushed their coats. The cute animals that would lick her hands in friendship whenever she said hello to them. The friendly folks at town that waved to her cheerfully and always had something for her whenever she passed by them.

And the best of all, was that Gill and her could now be somewhat considered as friends. They had been spending more time together, even if it was mostly for work. Sometimes, whenever there was time to spare, Gill would teach Akari about the different cultures and traditions in Waffle Island. Akari's favourite were about the festivals Waffle Island held every year. Gill would describe to her in details how certain festivals came to be and what people usually did during those festivals. Sometimes, Akari would blush when he talked about romantic festivals. She wondered if she could invite Gill to those festivals along with her one day. In fact, the Firefly festival was in a few days time…

"Are you listening?" Gill tapped his feet in annoyance as soon as he realised his little friend was not paying as much attention to him as he wanted her to be. Akari sure had a short attention span. It was kind of freaky when she would suddenly break into fits of giggles or smile to herself when she was helping him or Elli to do paperwork. Gill found it a little annoying, though he had to admit at times it was endearing. Ever since Akari moved in to Waffle Island, life wasn't as predictable and routine as before. He had hated how she disrupted his quiet lifestyle at first, but after awhile he couldn't imagine his day without her incessant noise and activity. Life was just more interesting this way.

No, before you think anything, he was NOT in love with her. He was just used to her presence. That is all. She had a way with people. Practically everyone in Waffle Island adored her. She always had a bright smile on her face and she was genuinely interested in everyone. She remembered everyone's birthdays and always had a gift in hand for them. Even when it wasn't their birthdays, she would give them something if she knew they like it. She chatted with everyone, young and old, and always listened attentively to anyone who needed a listening ear. And she had the sweetest smile.

She was not all play and no work either. Gill had seen her toiling away on her fields the other day in the hot, blistering sun. He never expected such a frail looking girl like Akari to be doing such tough work that even Gill would have issues with. He assumed she would be someone who would be afraid to get her hands dirty, shouting, "OH MY GAWD, EWWW!! BUT THERE ARE WORMS IN THERE!!!" and that she would shun all kinds of hard labour. Yet, he saw her, face caked slightly with dirt, nodding her head in satisfaction as she surveyed the fruits of her labour. He had underestimated her.

"Of course I was listening, Gill," Akari's voice suddenly cut Gill off his thoughts.

Gill blinked. What were they talking about again? Did he just had an "Akari" moment and started daydreaming? How embarrassing. Ah, never mind. He had to get back to work now anyway. Gill flicked his blond fringe off his face and stood up.

"I have unfinished documents that still needs to be reviewed. I shall take my leave first." Gill announced, before hastily picking up some papers on the table and headed upstairs. Too much of Akari for one day and he may well become a bag full of silliness and giggles like her.

Akari's eyes followed the blond up the stairs and watched as his foot disappeared from her sight. Uh, okay? That was sudden. Oh well, time for her to leave as well. Akari bid goodbye to Elli (who had been "discretely" trying to listen on to Gill and Akari's conversation) and headed towards Caramel Falls. Akari dug out from her rucksack a slightly crumpled piece of paper, which happens to be the recipe list for the first rainbow. Just a little more and she would be able to complete it. All she needed was a carp and she would be done with collecting the ingredients on the recipe. She walked down the path and spotted Toby fishing. With a grin, she approached him.

"Hiya Toby! Can I fish here with you?"

"Hello Akari. Sure." Toby smiled, which Akari couldn't really tell whether he was happy or not because he was always smiling with his eyes closed. For all she knew, he could actually be some secret assassin plotting for her demise, ready to pulverise her any moment and hook her up with his fishing rod as bait and she wouldn't know because he always had the same smiling expression on his face. Akari stared at Toby before backing away a little. Toby gave her a confused stare.

Uh no. Must not show that she has discovered his inner motives! …Wait, silly her. Toby wouldn't kill her; she wouldn't make good bait for the fishes. She wasn't someone like the Mayor, who looked really plump, juicy and delicious. Not that she was a cannibal, by the way. It was just a random thought. Wouldn't everyone agree with her? Anyhow, Akari chanted to herself in her head "TOBY ONLY MURDERS FISH, NOT HUMANS" ten times before she finally calmed down and flashed him a grin. She then set her fishing rod next to him and sat down.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Toby spoke up, "What are you fishing for?"

"I'm looking for a carp fish!" Akari sang out, her past thoughts about Toby forgotten, and gave a "totally-adorable-but-not-on-purpose" sideward glance towards the white haired fisherman. Toby blushed a little.

"Uh, if you need it urgently I have one… I fished it before you came."

"Really? Aw shucks! Thanks Toby!" Akari exclaimed joyfully, and stretched out her hands towards him, awaiting the fish with big, sparkly eyes. Ah, call her shameless if you want, but well, since he offered so kindly, why not accept? Shouldn't waste people's good grace, no?

Toby, still slightly pink in the face, smiled (more than usual) and passed the carp over to Akari.

"It's nothing. Take it as a thank you gift for that grilled fish you gave me the other day." Toby shyly replied, coughing a little to hide his embarrassment.

Akari nodded and shouted a quick word of thanks as she rushed off, leaving Toby behind, coughing in a cloud of dust.

'Man, that was easy. I sure make the right friends!' Akari thought. She gave herself a pat on the back. NOW ON TO SAVE THE ISLAND!

With a loud battle cry, she charged onwards towards the tree outside the Town Hall.

***

Gill stepped out onto the pavement outside the Town Hall when he felt a sudden breeze rush past him. It was… for the lack of better word, windy. Waffle Town haven't had any winds, since the harvest sprites disappeared many years back. Gill was still musing over how the new winds came when suddenly a stream of colours burst across the sky, forming a brilliant, beautiful rainbow. He noticed that it came from the tree a few metres away. A light bulb clicked in Gill's mind and he formed a simple equation.

**RAINBOW = POT OF GOLD!**

**POT OF GOLD = MONEY**

Therefore,** RAINBOW = MONEY = KA-CHING!**

Being the money faced gentleman that he was, of course Gill couldn't pass up the chance to get the gold on the other side of the rainbow. He hurriedly rushed towards the rainbow but instead of finding a pot brimming with gold coins waiting for him, he found Akari dancing about with a watering can, singing a happy but weird little song. He was about to demand for a portion of the gold when he suddenly realised that, hey, he wasn't so interested in gold after all. Somehow just seeing the lively brunette looking this happy filled his heart with a certain warmness that he couldn't quite describe. It made his stomach twist and turn, like when Elli gave him the spicy pepper juice to drink, only this time it felt good. Akari spotted him and ran towards him. She threw herself around him and hugged him tightly.

Gill looked slightly shocked for a brief moment, before he put his hand behind Akari, somewhat hugging her back. They stayed like that for a few seconds before they broke apart, a red tinge on both their faces. Gill glanced behind Akari. There was a flower at the end of the rainbow. Somehow he felt the presence of something familiar within the flower, but he couldn't put a finger to what it was.

"What did you do? "Gill asked her, breaking the silence.

"Gill! The winds have been restored!!!" Akari bounced on the spot, hardly able to contain her excitement. Finally, after weeks of her hard work…

The winds? Gill looked confused. What did she mean by restoring the winds? She meant to say… the light breeze that was coursing through his beautiful platinum hair was her work?

"What did you do?" Gill repeated his question. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Akari simply smiled mysteriously.

Gill just looked at her in astonishment. What was it with her! This was something very important to Gill! Doesn't she know he would reward her with anything for what she has done for the island? Was his gratitude so insignificant that she didn't want it? If not, why wouldn't she say anything? Darn it. Gill felt so unwanted and useless. He just felt like he had to do something for her. If she wasn't going to ask for anything, HE WOULD!!

"I demand that you go with me to the Firefly festival!"

**A/N: I simply must apologise for the short chapters. I'm a horrible writer. I don't plan my stories so usually it doesn't seem to be organised. And it might not flow smoothly. And it might be boring. And I can only write when I am struck by inspiration. So… I would love it if you guys could drop me any suggestions. I'm hit with a dry spell.**

**Another thing that some of you may have notice is I don't use much description in my story. Argh, I'm just not good at it and I'm not good at visualizing things. I can't even remember what colour was the flower for the first rainbow. And what was that harvest sprite's name anyway? What colour is Gill's vest? Was he even wearing a vest?**

…

**You know, I was holding back on marrying Gill in TOT till I complete this story, but seeing how I am such a slow writer, I proposed to him today. Not like I had anything else to do anyway; I've already completed all the 5 rainbows and the seedling of hope events. I'm wondering who else I should marry? I like Chase a fair bit, but somehow he doesn't appeal to me as a husband. I refuse to hand him over to Maya though. I think he is best as a bachelor for life. Muwahahaha. Okay, I'm evil. **

**But I digress. **

**Thank you for reading, the next chapter will be on the way! **

**Are there even people waiting for it? **

**Ah well. **


	4. Love? Not so simple afterall?

**A/N: CHAPTER 4 IS UP!! Thank you all my readers! Special thanks to certain people! You give me motivation and ideas to write! Well, this chapter is dedicated to all who have been waiting for it! **

**You know, I'm kinda new to fanfiction dot net, so what is this beta reader thingy, anyway? Is it the norm to have someone beta your stories? Anyone willing to beta my stories? Am I asking too many questions? Am I being annoying? Am I? Am I? Am I? **

**Another thing is, actually I need a proper name for my story. I kinda name it what it is now because they was a wad of post it notes on my table… So yeah. Inappropriate. I haven't mentioned much about post it notes anyway. Suggestions? **

**Eh. Right, go ahead with the story. **

**Disclaimer: Harvest Moon is not mine. But this story is mine. **

'I invited Akari to the Firefly festival… So WHY did it turn out like THIS??!!' Gill screamed in his mind. He stomped and crossed his arms angrily, glaring daggers at the back of the head of a blue haired boy with a bandana.

"Akari, sunshine of my heart! Let's go over to the other side! We can see fireflies better from there!" Luke shouted in hyper mode, and he swung his arm across Akari's shoulder, moving her towards his desired spot at the corner of Caramel Waterfalls.

Ohh, how Gill wished that idiot's head would just implode! It was suppose to be just him and Akari. Not with this loud idiot who was forever on a sugar rush. He wanted to show Akari all about the firefly festival by himself. Knowing Luke, he would just be too loud and noisy and he would scare all the fireflies away, ruining the atmosphere at the festival. Why was Luke even here anyway! Who invited him? Oh, right.

_*Flashback*_

"_Hey Gill! Can Luke come along with us tomorrow? You know, to the Firefly festival!" _

_Gill stared at Akari. What? Why should Luke come along? Tomorrow is to be strictly Gill and Akari time alone. It's supposed to be private. With no uncivil, boisterous axe-wielding fools around. OF COURSE NOT._

"_Up to you."_

_*End of Flashback* _

Darn it. Why couldn't he just say "no"? Was it because he was afraid to see Akari's disappointed face? Gill clenched his fists tightly into a ball. Doesn't Akari know this is supposed to a romantic festival? Not that he had romantic feelings towards Akari or anything. Just that he wanted her to experience the festival in its proper setting. Yeah. That's it. It's not like Luke being around at the Firefly festival bugged (hahaha pun) him or anything. It's just… Argh. He couldn't explain.

"Come on Gill! Let's go let's go!" Akari grabbed Gill's hand and quickly pulled him along with them.

Gill sighed. This is going to be a long evening…

***

It was horrible.

Luke had shouted and screamed madly as soon as the first speck of light appeared and he jumped up and down, attempting to scoop the firefly into an empty bottle that held banana milk that Luke was chugging down loudly just a few minutes ago. The firefly was too smart for him and he failed miserably; instead, with a yell, he tripped and tumbled into the waters with a big splash. The rushing waters dragged Luke along across the river bed towards the edge of the waterfall, where he fell off, hit his head on a large jagged rock and died.

… At least, that was what Gill wanted.

Turns out the night went well, perfect even. Luke was well-behaved, and he had kept a respectful silence as the fireflies slowly floated out from the bush, circling about in a dance. When he spoke, it was nothing like the stupid things he usually said like "I FEEL LIKE A CHICKEN TONIGHT, WOOHOO" but instead, intelligent and thoughtful conversations that revolved around Akari's life so far at Waffle Island and other more impressive subjects like politics and the economy. If Luke had done something wrong, Gill would have been able to be smug about it and show Akari how much more superior he was compared to Luke. He wanted Luke to meet up to his expectations of being a brainless block of wood. But it seemed like people change when they were around Akari. Even Luke was trying to impress her.

This put Gill into a really foul mood.

***

Gill sighed heavily as he stared at the mountain of paperwork in front of him.

Gill thought he would be happy now.

Ever since the winds returned to Waffle Island and the seas were calmed, people started streaming into Waffle Island to stay. Many of them were familiar people, like Taylor, Phoebe and Luna with her family.

Luna… Ah. Her. Before she left the island, Gill use to think that they would somehow end up together one day. Luna liked him, he liked her. One day, without a word, she left the island. Gill felt he had been betrayed. But then, despite his feelings, even after she left, Gill continued to pin for her, and thoughts about her occupied his mind often. He thought about the day she would return to the island. A few years later, he knew she wasn't coming back and he retreated into his little shell he had been creating for himself the day she left him, and he changed, from a happy carefree boy, to the expressionless and distant man he was now.

But ever since Akari came to the island, the barrier was slowly chipped off and Luna started to appear lesser and lesser in his thoughts, till it was like she was never there in the first place. And when he finally saw Luna again, he felt nothing. She was just another girl now.

Yes, he did had a thing or two for Luna back when they were young children, but now it just felt like a silly thing in the past. She was just a passing fancy. Like there was this time when everyone was obsessed with 'Sailor Moon'; some anime about a few girls in sailor uniforms fighting baddies with kick-ass magic with weird names. Gill reckoned he only liked Luna because she had looked almost identical to one of the characters on 'Sailor Moon' that he thought was really adorable; some little kid with pink hair that could summon some sort of Pegasus unicorn hybrid thingy. Now that the 'Sailor Moon' craze was over, the feelings he had for Luna were over as well. (Eh, Sailor Moon fans don't kill me. I think it's a wonderful anime. I loved it… when I was 6.)

Now, what he wanted was somewhat something more exciting, something much more unpredictable. He didn't like people who stuck to their schedules everyday religiously, doing the same things over and over day after day. (He refused to admit he was one of them.) What he dreamed of was a girl like Akari… _LIKE_ Akari. _NOT_ Akari. Akari was just too… Argh. Something about her aggravated him so much.

How could she let herself slack off from her farm work and laugh over Luke's lame, unfunny jokes instead? What was she doing fishing at Caramel Falls with Toby when Waffle Ocean had so much bigger and better fish? And staying out late at night at the mines with Owen! She was a girl; how could she hang out with a guy so late at night? Blasphemous! What did she think she was here for? To farm or to seduce boys?! Being friendly my foot!

"Hiya Gill!" Gill was still thinking about all of Akari's faults and stupidity, when a voice suddenly cut his train of thoughts, silencing his mind.

Speak of the devil. He turned to the smiling, clueless girl in front of him and gave her a glare.

"What do you want?" His voice came out curt and borderline rude, but he didn't care. He was in no mood to talk to her. He wanted her out of his face. As soon as possible. NOW. He continued to hold a steely gaze at her, till he noticed there was a boy behind her. He shifted his glare to the guy instead.

Akari must have either not noticed his annoyance, or she just ignored it as she didn't seem to be fazed by his actions, and instead continued to smile. She placed a cup of tomato juice on his desk.

"I bet you know this already, but Chase is new here!"

"No I don't." Gill wasn't lying. He had been so caught up with thoughts about Akari that he hadn't touched much of the growing pile of paperwork on his table. Gill continued to stare at the guy called Chase, sizing him up. Light brown hair. Amethyst eyes. Bored look on face. Hmph. Nothing special about him. Big deal. Wait. Is he wearing hair clips!? Gill didn't know why, but he didn't like the vibes Chase gave him… Not that Gill ever thought fondly of anyone anyway.

"Well anyway, Chase is here to register himself! He's a cook! Isn't that cool?" What's so cool about a guy who plays with spatulas for a living?

"Please fill in these registration papers." Gill ignored Akari and passed the papers to Chase. Ptff. He wasn't like the other guys. He's not going to be smitten by her charms! He shall not entertain her nonsense! Ignore ignore ignore ignore ignore…

After what seemed like hours, Chase was done with the papers and he handed them back to Gill. Gill nodded and filed the papers away. He turned back to Chase with an expressionless face.

"Do you need someone to give you a tour around the island?" Gill asked, not because he was a kind, sweet little thing but simply because it was his job. Chase shook his head.

"Akari here said she would bring me around the island," Chase replied, a slightly smug look on his face as he watched Gill. Gill felt anger boiling up in him, but he kept quiet. Ignore ignore ignore ignore ignore…

Chase placed a hand behind Akari's back and lightly pushed her towards the door. Gill could have sworn Chase turned back and gave him a smirk. Gill had a sudden urge to punch the cook in the face, but because Gill wasn't an uncivilised barbarian, he suppressed it. Why was he getting so worked up anyway? He didn't care if Akari was wasting her time flirting away with guys instead of doing more productive work, like working part time at the Town Hall. Who cares if she likes Chase or not? Darn them all!

"!#$%^&...!" Gill cursed, as soon as they were out of sight. He took a huge gulp of the tomato juice Akari had left for him. He choked, and coughed slightly. Irritated, he balls his fist and slammed it against the table causing papers to fly everywhere.

Elli, who had been watching everything silently, sighed. She had been a nurse before she came to Waffle Island to work and she knew what Gill was suffering from could not be cured by any medicine in the world. She had been passive all these while but she knew she had to step in and save the poor boy.

"Did you see the way that guy was looking at Akari?"

"So what? I am busy, don't bother me with such trivial matters." Gill picked up the mess he made on the floor, and looked away from Elli.

"Don't you care?" Elli pressed on, despite Gill's unwillingness to continue the conversation.

"No."

"It's not just Chase that has an interest in her! You should claim her before anyone else does!"

"That is not my business."

"Soon you'll see her at the altar, getting married to someone else that is not you! All you can do by then is just watching her, wishing the guy was you and regretting that you didn't do anything about it!"

Gill snorted. "What nonsense are you sprouting, Elli? Do I look like I care?" He gave her an irritated look and continued with his paperwork.

"Gill, I am serious. She WILL be stolen from you."

Gill ignored Elli and continued to have the expressionless look on his face. Despite that, Elli was not fooled and did not miss the shaking and balling of his fists.

Elli smiled. The fire has been fuelled.

**A/N: Okay, last part I lost my drive so pardon the lousy ending. Hmmm, next chapter's probably the last one. Phew. I never knew writing was so tiring. Actually, I had so many ideas, but when it came to writing it down, they kinda died. Oops. Can I just sell plots to others so they can write it down for me instead?**

**Review please? :)**

**I'd love to get suggestions! **


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